The iconic tumbleweed is a fixture of the American Southwest, but the invasive species is also a problem that scientists are working to wipe out. Scientists from the United States Agricultural Research Service have found two species of fungi in Eurasia that might help get rid of the invasive tumbleweed plants.

The iconic tumbleweed is a fixture of the American Southwest, but the invasive species is also a problem that scientists are working to wipe out.

Scientists from the United States Agricultural Research Service have been studying two species of fungi from Eurasia that might help get rid of the invasive tumbleweed plants.

Although their image is connected in many people’s minds with America’s open range, seeds of the plant are believed to have been brought over from Russia in the 1870s.

Since there aren’t any natural predators or diseases that pose a threat to the species, they have exploded in number and taken over farmland, along with becoming a major fire hazard.

The fungi have been tested on different plants in the lab to see if they would affect native species, with promising results.

Another test in Greece reportedly eradicated the tumbleweeds from one farm property in a matter of one to two years.

Scientists are still in the process of getting permission to release the fungi in the wild as a means of reducing the number of tumbleweeds.

The fungi work by destroying the tumbleweeds before they have a chance to grow into large bushes and disperse their seeds after drying out.